“Over-the-top” is good in this case. It would have been a drag if it looked like an actual zoo. The “theater of the absurd” is a standard approach Rivera has used in her stories, and a good approach (as also seen in literature and movies).
Tiger Touch Center must be a fairly exclusive zoo if Tess Tigress really has the time to personally welcome every arriving guest. Kind of like Mr. Roarke on Fantasy Island. And like an island, this place looks to be in the middle of nowhere.
While wet-blanket Mark takes on a pose of indifference, Diana curiously remains a silent and ignored partner. Is this a strategic pose on her part to encourage Rex to bond more with Mark? It seems likely, given her admission to Mark when she picked him up at the airport.
Okay, did these two even go to sleep last night? I could be guilty of talk radio punditry if I pursued this line of questioning any further, so I’ll let you all deal with it.
But why is Mark so mystified about the trip to a roadside zoo? Doesn’t Mark remember that this particular zoo is the reason he is here in the first place!? Well, at least he no longer sports that dorky bandana around his neck.
I won’t claim that this past week was a snoozer by any means; it was more like narcissistic arrogance. Even though Rex Scorpius had already told Mark he was tired and just wanted to go home and sleep, Mark acted as if Rex’s departure was an unsolved mystery that he needed to resolve. At least, that is the excuse Mark gave to Diana Daggers (remember her?) as he wandered over to Rex’s trailer and snooped around.
Assuming he had the right to do so, Mark started peeking through a window, only to discover that Rex was talking to his dog on the phone. Accidentally making a noise—as all peeping toms are required to do in TV shows and comic strips—Rex discovered Mark’s creepy activity. But Mark quickly distracted Rex by admitting that he, too, was a closet pet caller. So they decided to have a “four-way” conversation. Afterwards, Rex opened up about his depression and disillusionment. It was touching, in a way, if you define touching as something resembling getting hit on the head by a 2×4. Before we, hopefully, head out on Monday to the tiger zoo, let’s spend a few minutes reading Sunday’s nature lesson!
Pretty lame joke, Mark! Don’t quit your day job. Today’s strip seems more like a random collection of factoids with no overarching point to make, other than highlighting (no pun intended) another Texas lifeform. The National Wildlife Federation website claims that the nine-banded armadillo is, in fact, the only armadillo species in the U.S., and found throughout the southwest and even in the southeast. With regard to road-awareness, slowing down isn’t the only issue. When surprised, these “little armored” mammals tend to jump several feet straight up in the air, turning them into unintended highway suicide commandos!
No reason to get into the science of canine perception of images on small-scale video screens, just as there was no reason to fret over the “universal translator” in StarTrek. They are necessary plot devices to help move the story along.
It is also surprisingly silly to assume that Rex could not have brought his dog with him while doing his show. I’m sure that kind of thing happens all the time. In fact, my minimal research confirms it is quite common. And how many times have we seen Mark “chat” with Andy on his smartphone? Irrelevant, as this is just another plot device, put here to provoke male bonding.
This is still a bit creepy. Yeah, the two dudes are bonding over their dogs and their messed-up lives. To Mark’s (the commenter, not the guy in the flannel shirt) point, this contemporary interaction would likely have never occurred in vintageMark Trail, simply because it would be looked on as something only females did. But in the Gen Z World, that is not the case. Change is sometimes hard for us, especially when the change is dramatic and surprising. Like personal pronouns.
This is all getting very creepy. Mark says he is not spying on Rex, but then pretty much shows that he has been spying with his stupid suggestion of a four-way pet call. Is Rivera being sarcastic in panel 4 about making friends, I wonder? I sure hope so. If I was Rex, I’d send Mark packing back to Hicksville. If I read Joseph Nebus correctly in his “Another Blog Meanwhile“, he suggests that Rivera is attempting to emulate a Jack Elrod style of writing through her use of certain words—especially interjections—and putting greater emphasis on exaggerated poses. She is doing that.
Nebus’s hypothesis is that this look-back might be a deliberate appeal toold school Trailheads and might help them appreciate the strip again if they look at it with this idea in mind. It’s a tempting idea.`
I think most Trailheads would agree to the general assessment of the pre-Rivera version of Mark Trail as a person and world caught in a time freeze of the 1950s with often hokey stories, simple morals, and TV-style action. As Nebus rightly says, a lot of readers enjoyed the strip specifically for reasons like these. Certainly, online commenters enjoyed poking fun at the old Mark Trail. As I wrote many months ago, this could be a major reason they dislike Rivera’s version: Because it could appear to be a deliberate parody, a continuous snarking, of Mark Trail (the comic strip), thus usurping their fun. Just a thought. Yet, I do think Rivera’s vision is larger than simply poking fun at a legacy strip and its long-time readers.
I still think Mark is acting very creepy in this story.
Mark’s overly suspicious mind turns him into a peeping tom, invading Rex’s privacy. Mark is making a lot of assumptions on virtually no evidence, while ignoring the actual evidence given him (that is, Rex’s desire to retire early to get enough sleep for an early morning gym visit).
For example, why does Mark seem to think that Rex snuck off to do something secretive, when Rex exited in full view of the crew, while also snubbing Mark’s overtures? And what business is it of Mark’s, anyway?
Wait. How can Rex call his dog on the phone? Is there a human taking care of Buzz who can answer the phone? Or is Buzz a modern-day Lassie, capable of understanding humans and performing human actions?
What part of Rex’s exit statement (“I gotta get to bed early”) did Mark not understand? And did Mark really miss the cues about how uninterested Rex was in spending time with him right now? Yet, Mark seems impervious to the feelings of other people. He doesn’t know Rex, but still claims to know enough that Rex needs a friend.
I’m not sure why Rivera is manipulating Mark’s personality to make him seem like a clueless, arrogant oaf (so he seems to me). In a way, he is presented as an altered manifestation of Honest Ernest, right down to the know-it-all pose in panel 4. As for Diana Daggers, what the hell happened to her? She used to be a tough gal, ready to pound anybody’s head who threatened her charge. But now, every new appearance by her seems to show less and less action and more and more passivity. I think there is enough room in this strip for two strong people (on the same side, I presume). Diana and Mark had more chemistry when they were rivals. Why dilute one of the more interesting rivalries in the strip?
Ahh, I think a second week of Cherry and Doc would go over a lot better. I must be missing something here, because I just don’t get this part of Mark’s story. What’s the point of spending more time in this scenario? Why is Jimmy Songbird singing a song “for Markand his friends”? First, most of the people here likely have no idea who Mark is. And more importantly, Mark had absolutely nothing to do with corralling the geese! If I was the crew, I’d be pissed off.
And Mark says he hasn’t seen Rex since he left the set. How could he have seen Rex, since Rex left the set! Sheesh! Mark really needs to get his shit together and quit wasting time ogling music stars. Perhaps he should take a page from Rex’s playbook and get a good night’s sleep. I could use one.
In case you somehow missed this week’s strips or <sniff!> my postings, you could scroll down and enjoy my barely coherent analyses and grade-school humor. Or you can simply read the following summary and get on with your life.
This is a Cherry Week, so we return to the mysterious animal rash spreading throughout the Lost Forest community. Cherry showed up at Doc’s veterinary office with his prescribed healthy lunch and a bottle of lawn treatment she got from Honest Ernest. Suspicious that it might be the cause of the rash, Doc and Cherry spent the rest of the week evaluating the chemical. Apparently, this lawn treatment has some “corrosive” quality to it, as it quickly cleaned a penny faster than a bottle of soda pop could. Is Honest Ernest’s home brew the cause of the shared rash? It might be difficult to establish a solid link unless Honest Ernest’s lawn business is very popular, or these pets roam free and hang out together.
Now, will we get a second week for Cherry or will we return to Mark and the Tiger Cult? Ponder that mystery as you view the Sunday nature lesson, below.
Close readers of the Sunday strip should notice that Rivera tends to discuss animals and natural events that are related to the area where Mark’s current story is happening. I think that is a really good idea, as it also provides the opportunity to explore more aspects of that area’s ecology. This is an informative topic, though I don’t think the artwork is up to Rivera’s usual “Sunday” standard. For example, she could have drawn the scorpion and its meal options larger, with more detail (panel 4). They look too sketchy to me.
That the only dangerous scorpion exists in Arizona makes me feel queasy. Years ago, I spent a few weeks in Arizona visiting relatives. One morning, as I got dressed, I got STUNG (not bit!) by a scorpion that had gotten into one of my hiking shoes. This happened inside a house, mind you. Happily, it was not the dangerous species. But I was pretty nervous and depressed for a few days. I would add to Mark’s advice to not simply wear proper shoes or boots, but to shake them out each time you prepare to put them on!
We may as well assume that the two pennies were equally dirty in the same way. Perhaps the pennies came from Doc’s cache of penny jars hidden in a closet. In any event, I reckon it is pointless to get picky. I’m no scientist. Sure, it is proper to determine the potency of the lawn chemical, but if you don’t have a proper lab (what vet would?), then this basic “Mr. Wizard” experiment will have to do for a start.
The real point is that the story is moving along with Doc and Cherry performing an analysis to discover if the lawn chemical might be the cause of the rash. Cleaning a penny quickly is not exactly proof of causation, but it’s a start. A gold star to Cherry for making the initial connection.
I wonder if Rivera is going to give Cherry a second week or jump us back to the more problematic Texas Tiger Zoo and Spa adventure with Mark “Call me Slim” Trail, Rex Scorpius, and Diana Daggers.
We finally move on to serious analysis. Hoo-boy! But first, it’s hard to get past that oddly designed first panel with the angled desktop, with Doc’s somewhat flattened figure. Drawing an axonometric view can be difficult, as we see. Unfortunately, Doc’s pose and angle does not follow the same angle as the desk, making it all look really awkward.
Okay, moving on to the analysis. I’m certainly no scientist, but one test bed is called the control, but Doc/Rivera calls the other test bed an experiment. Aren’t both test beds part of the experiment? Well, at least Doc appears to follow standard testing procedures.
Second, is the speedof cleaning a penny a determinant of anything? I presume Doc means a quicker clean may be a dirtier cleaner (i.e., worse for animals?). But is the reaction of a metal coin a valid predictor for the reaction of skin and fur? I reckon I should have paid more attention in biology class!
This is what passes for scientific research, huh? “If it smells bad for humans, how can animals stand it?” Well, cat food smells bad to humans. How can cats like that stuff?
Testing? Testing is good. Doc says that the first test is for corrosion. Hmmm, Cherry, how is a penny like the skin or fur of an animal? Don’t know? Well, I mean…! Wait, neither do I.
Oh, I get it: If it corrodes a penny (certainly, tougher than an animal’s skin), then it could certainly be capable of harming a pet’s skin. So, you could say it is possible, but that doesn’t prove the lawn care product is directly responsible. Or could you?
Maybe Doc could try reading the label on the bottle to see if the ingredients are listed, though I doubt Honest Ernest took the trouble to go through the EPA first. In any event, I’m interested to see the results.
Wait, those animals were not hurt at the clinic, Cherry. I’m sure you meant to say, “I found a clue to what hurt the animals that were brought to your clinic last week.” You see the difference, Cherry? I don’t think you want to paint your dad as an animal abuser, right? What’s that? The text won’t fit the space?! Get rid of the unnecessary text box!
Still, there must be something to that potion, as Cherry’s body in panel 3 seems to be getting more ripped than she looks in panel 2. Of course, it just might be the light. Even though Doc doesn’t seem to know the safer method for detecting odors, let’s hope he still has the ability to analyze the chemicals.
I have what some people might call an unnatural love for milk. Maybe it’s dairy in general, because I also love cheese, ice cream, and chocolate malts; the latter being a combination of milk, ice cream, and heaps of malt powder well-blended into a concoction so enticingly satisfying that I believe it should be classified as a new food group. If you are going to get all huffy about that idea, we can always pump in a few nutrients, as long as they don’t affect the taste. And it’s not as if I’m downing malts and cones every week, either. But what does any of this have to do with Mark Trail, you ask? Not much, but it keeps me from asking impertinent questions about it, such as:
Does Doc eat lunch if Cherry does not show up?
Why does Cherry have such poor posture, as in panel 1?
Why is Cherry wearing a “Crazy Cherry” mask in panel 4? I mean, that can’t be her actual face, of course. See how that jaw line runs up the whole side of the face and past the ear, rather than stopping just under the ear? And the expression frankly looks homicidal. Not a cheery Cherry face!
At least, Cherry seems to be getting to Honest Ernest’s home brewed poison! Let’s hope Doc has the wherewithal and lab equipment to test this stuff. Perhaps Cherry laced Doc’s lunch with that stuff to see if he breaks out.
Will Cherry get just one week this time, or two? It would be nice to see some progress here. At least, Rivera’s pacing is a bit faster than Allen’s. On the other hand, nice to see some of the standard “Mark Trail” wildlife dropping by, this time without staring stupidly at us for a change.
But now that the pleasantries are over with, it’s time for some drama and action. As I recall, Cherry (or Doc) was going to analyze Honest Ernest’s “Lawn Libation” lawn treatment to see if it might be contributing to the animal rash going around.
Once again, here is the weekly recap for people too lazy, too busy, or just too pissed to read the dailies for the past week, but secretly hope that Jules Rivera will start drawing like Jack Elrod! This week Diana Daggers and Mark drove from the airport to one of Rex Scorpius’s video shoots. Still dressed in his “Yes, I’m a yahoo” faux western garb and talking like a rube tourist from Ohio, Rex dismissed Mark and got on to his assignment: herding a gaggle of Canada geese hanging out on some goofball musician’s front yard (He might want to hook up with Reptilionnaire. I think they’re made for each other!) Mark was spellbound by what was otherwise a mundane task, when you have 4 or 5 other people helping you. In spite of Mark’s obsequious behavior, Rex again brushed him off and headed back to the motel for the night.
I’m not sure what Rivera’s point here is. Mark could have arrived on set as a straight-shooting, no-nonsense pro, giving Rex a favorable first impression as somebody he could work with and even depend on. Instead, Rivera portrayed Mark as a hick. Even this Mark Trail deserves better. If this is some kind of reverse-psychology stunt or Jedi mind-trick, it does not look promising. More promising might be today’s nature discussion.
What a surprising topic…! Well, Mark didn’t exactly say how to get the geese off your lawn. If it were me, I’d find something they like to eat and throw it into a neighbor’s yard.
As for Mark’s smug closing comment, I’d say he is wrong. City dwellers (as if Mark would know) don’t have much of any territory, so territorial behavior doesn’t go far. Now, those who live in suburbs and rural areas definitely are territorial when it comes to their property. And they let you know.
One would think that, after getting dressed down by Diana, Mark would have at least ditched the stupid hat and neckerchief so he wouldn’t look like a dorky tourist. But why does Rivera portray Mark as a clueless goober once again? He played the clueless old dude in his Land Shrimp adventure. Clearly, Rex is not impressed with Mark, while Rivera once again indulges in one of those “cute” puns she likes to use. “Came for the brush”?
As for locking down the geese, Mark seems easily impressed.
Otherwise, we’re seeing no chemistry yet between Mark and Rex. I reckon that is going to be part of the evolving plot. At a crucial point, they will have to depend on each other, right? Alas, things should really go swell at the roadside zoo.
Well, I’ll stop doing them. I see the team got the geese contained. And Mark stayed out of it, thank goodness. But did they move the geese to another yard, first? If not, how does this help the keytarist? I presume the geese are still honking. In fact, they’re probably honking a lot more! I’m surprised Jimmy Songbird, the keytarist, isn’t taking advantage of the situation by working on a way to incorporate the goose honks into a song. I remember the old Herb Albert and the Tijuana Brass song (Tijuanna Taxi) with a taxi klaxon that sounds something like a goose.
Story-wise, I suppose Rivera has to establish Rex’s bona fides as a true video animal wrangler star. I don’t necessarily see any signs of his supposed depression, so that clearly isn’t the point here. Maybe Mark will get inspired to start his own video gig to enhance his visibility and earn some extra cash.
Well, here is a chance for Mark to gain some street cred, if he has a mind to help Rex, and assuming Rex wants the help. We can see signs of Mark’s growing impatience in the last panel, as if Mark has an “I can fix this!” pulse quivering up the back of his neck.
Diana told Mark earlier that Rex has depression issues, so I’m thinking that if Mark interferes, it will not exactly build up Rex’s self-confidence. Just bite your tongue and stay put, Mark! Well, if this fails, there is still time for the Kaytarist of Hamelin approach.
The Daily Trail 